Shoulda Books

Jonathan Faircloth Kirk
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  • BOOKS

The podcast about all the books you shoulda read by now.

  1. 17 HR AGO

    21. Annie Rauwerda (Depths of Wikipedia) loves The Power Broker (and MORE)

    Annie Rauwerda, the mind behind one of my favorite Instagram accounts (Depths of Wikipedia, go check it out) joins me to share way more than 3 books you should also check out. We talk Robert Moses, literary gossip from the 1920s, cartoons, the internet, and the recent passing of a bottle of amaro.   for the ad-free, extended version of this episode, sign up for the Shoulda Books Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ShouldaBooks follow Annie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annierau/   follow Depths of Wikipedia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/depthsofwikipedia/   Annie's live show in LA on May 9th, 2026: https://hollywoodforever.com/event/depths-of-wikipedia/ books discussed below. these are affiliate links for bookshop.org. by purchasing books through these links, you support local bookstores, and I earn a (very small) commission.   "Complete Poems" by Dorothy Parker https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780143106081   "The Power Broker" by Robert Caro https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780394720241   "Working" by Robert Caro https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780593081914   "Word by Word: the Secret Life of Dictionaries" by Kory Stamper https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781101970263   "Gulp" by Mary Roach https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781324036067   "In the Beginning Was the Command Line" by Neal Stephenson https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780380815937   "The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons" https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780316484770   "City of Quartz" by Mike Davis https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781786635891 join the Shoulda Book Club on Fable: https://fable.co/club/the-shoulda-book-club-with-shoulda-books-225140024638?brid=yapSJjJ6zqETOwu3XngDDw   This month, we're reading "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781594631931 follow Shoulda Books on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shouldabooks/ follow Shoulda Books on TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@shouldabooks   follow Jonathan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jf.kirk/?hl=en   Shoulda Books theme song by Skyler Klingenberg

    1 hr

  2. 30 APR

    20. "Never Let Me Go" is frustrating...but is that the point?

    I unpack Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 classic "Never Let Me Go".   I dive into some of the questions that philosophers have asked for millennia, vent some of my frustrations with the characters, and take a peek at a very specific branch of science you don't hear much about today.   sign up for the Shoulda Books Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ShouldaBooks join the Shoulda Book Club on Fable: https://fable.co/club/the-shoulda-book-club-with-shoulda-books-225140024638?brid=yapSJjJ6zqETOwu3XngDDw   this month, we read "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781400078776   next month, we're reading "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781594631931   the links above are affiliate links for bookshop.org. by purchasing books through these links, you support local bookstores, and I earn a (very small) commission.   the article I mentioned in the episode: https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Cloning-Fact-Sheet   follow Shoulda Books on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shouldabooks/ follow Shoulda Books on TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@shouldabooks   follow Jonathan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jf.kirk/?hl=en   Shoulda Books theme song by Skyler Klingenberg

    42 min

  3. 23 APR

    19. too much trauma dumping? ("I'm Glad My Mom Died" + MORE)

    Stephen LaConte is the managing editor of Clickhole and the author of the advice column Stephen, Please. He's also the boyfriend of hyper-realistic cake creator Jonny Cakes, who refers to him (respectfully) as Cake Twink. Stephen shares 2 memoirs and a play that will make you laugh, cry, and question whether children should ever be actors.   sign up for Stephen's advice column: https://stephen.substack.com/ follow Stephen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephenlc/   for the ad-free, extended version of this episode, sign up for the Shoulda Books Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ShouldaBooks   books discussed below. these are affiliate links for bookshop.org. by purchasing books through these links, you support local bookstores, and I earn a (very small) commission.   Bossypants by Tina Fey https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780316056878   I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781982185831   Our Town by Thornton Wilder https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780063003996 join the Shoulda Book Club on Fable: https://fable.co/club/the-shoulda-book-club-with-shoulda-books-225140024638?brid=yapSJjJ6zqETOwu3XngDDw   this month, we're reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781400078776 follow Shoulda Books on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shouldabooks/ follow Shoulda Books on TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@shouldabooks   follow Jonathan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jf.kirk/?hl=en   Shoulda Books theme song by Skyler Klingenberg

    1hr 16min

  4. 16 APR

    18. these books can help you find meaning ("When Breath Becomes Air" + MORE)

    Sam Bakas (editor, The Try Guys) returns to discuss 3 books that helped him find meaning in a cold, indifferent universe.   follow Sam on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheShmoopy follow Sam on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshmoopy/ for the ad-free, extended version of this episode, sign up for the Shoulda Books Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ShouldaBooks books discussed below. these are affiliate links for bookshop.org. by purchasing books through these links, you support local bookstores, and I earn a (very small) commission.   "The House of the Spirits" by Isabell Allende https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781501117015   "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781594631931   "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780553375404   "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalinithi https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780812988406   "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781631495311   "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781400078776   join the Shoulda Book Club on Fable: https://fable.co/club/the-shoulda-book-club-with-shoulda-books-225140024638?brid=yapSJjJ6zqETOwu3XngDDw follow Shoulda Books on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shouldabooks/ follow Shoulda Books on TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@shouldabooks   follow Jonathan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jf.kirk/?hl=en   Shoulda Books theme song by Skyler Klingenberg

    1 hr

  5. 9 APR

    17. did "Left Behind" traumatize you, too?

    The Left Behind series traumatized me as a tween, and I know I'm not the only one. Join me for a loose, rambling episode exploring this cursed series and how it shaped the American Evangelical mind and, consequently, maybe even current US foreign policy?   NOTE: I recorded this episode on the afternoon of April 7th, 2026, before the temporary ceasefire was announced   Guardian article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/03/us-israel-iran-war-christian-rhetoric#:~:text=war%20on%20Iran-,US%20troops%20were%20told%20war%20on%20Iran%20was%20%27all%20part,Christian%20rhetoric%20to%20justify%20war for the ad-free, extended version of this episode, sign up for the Shoulda Books Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ShouldaBooks join the Shoulda Book Club on Fable: https://fable.co/club/the-shoulda-book-club-with-shoulda-books-225140024638?brid=yapSJjJ6zqETOwu3XngDDw follow Shoulda Books on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shouldabooks/ follow Shoulda Books on TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@shouldabooks   follow Jonathan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jf.kirk/?hl=en   Shoulda Books theme song by Skyler Klingenberg

    36 min

  6. 2 APR

    16. your friends are right about The Artist's Way

    Merle Shane O'Neal shares 2 books that mean a great deal to me, and one that I know absolutely nothing about. So it goes.   follow Merle on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/merleeshay/   follow Merle on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MerleONeal   for the ad-free, extended version of this episode, sign up for the Shoulda Books Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ShouldaBooks   books discussed below. these are affiliate links for bookshop.org. by purchasing books through these links, you support local bookstores, and I earn a (very small) commission.   "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780143129257   "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780060786502   "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780440180296   "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780142407332   "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781400078776 join the Shoulda Book Club on Fable: https://fable.co/club/the-shoulda-book-club-with-shoulda-books-225140024638?brid=yapSJjJ6zqETOwu3XngDDw follow Shoulda Books on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shouldabooks/ follow Shoulda Books on TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@shouldabooks   follow Jonathan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jf.kirk/?hl=en   Shoulda Books theme song by Skyler Klingenberg

    52 min

  7. 31 MAR

    15 - "The Outsiders" launched the YA genre

    this week, we're rumbling through S.E. Hinton's 1967 classic The Outsiders, the book that apparently taught the publishing industry that teenagers read books   for the ad-free, extended version of this episode, sign up for the Shoulda Books Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ShouldaBooks   books discussed below. these are affiliate links for bookshop.org. by purchasing books through these links, you support local bookstores, and I earn a (very small) commission.   "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780142407332   "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781400078776     join the Shoulda Book Club on Fable: https://fable.co/club/the-shoulda-book-club-with-shoulda-books-225140024638?brid=yapSJjJ6zqETOwu3XngDDw   follow Shoulda Books on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shouldabooks/   follow Shoulda Books on TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@shouldabooks   follow Jonathan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jf.kirk/?hl=en   Shoulda Books theme song by Skyler Klingenberg

    37 min

  8. 26 MAR

    14. do you really want to live forever? (Ash Perez on "Tuck Everlasting" + MORE)

    Ash Perez discusses 3 books that bring together comedy and heartbreak, and that balance nostalgia with hope for the future.   pre-order Ash's delightful new rom-com audiobook "Speak Now" (available March 31, 2026) https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Speak-Now/Ash-Perez/9781668117927?utm_campaign=speak-now_ash-perez_audio&utm_content=audio_buy_link&utm_medium=audio_author_outlet&utm_source=author_outlet#buy-from   Ash's website: https://www.ashperez.com/   for the ad-free, extended version of this episode, sign up for the Shoulda Books Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ShouldaBooks   books discussed below. these are affiliate links for bookshop.org. by purchasing books through these links, you support local bookstores, and I earn a (very small) commission.   "Heartburn" by Nora Ephron https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780679767954   "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbit https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780312369811   "Hyperbole and a Half" by Allie Brosh https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9781451666175   "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton https://bookshop.org/a/120498/9780142407332   join the Shoulda Book Club on Fable: https://fable.co/club/the-shoulda-book-club-with-shoulda-books-225140024638?brid=yapSJjJ6zqETOwu3XngDDw   The Q2 Ballot o' Books (vote for these on Patreon for free): The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini White Teeth by Zadie Smith Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell Pachinko by Min Jin Lee The Overstory by Richard Powers Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro follow Shoulda Books on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shouldabooks/ follow Shoulda Books on TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@shouldabooks   follow Jonathan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jf.kirk/?hl=en   Shoulda Books theme song by Skyler Klingenberg

    1hr 16min
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About

The podcast about all the books you shoulda read by now.

Information

  • Creator
    Jonathan Faircloth Kirk
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    25
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    Shoulda Books
  • Provider

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